Something I Can’t Quite Explain-Some Late-Night Drivel…

I was talking with someone the other day who describes herself as an atheist. I say “describes” because it sounded as though she wasn’t sure *what* she believed. She’d been exposed to religion all her life but, for some reason, it didn’t ring true to her. She just went through all the motions while people around her talked of things that made no sense. She was frustrated and challenging me to “prove” to her that there was a God. I knew where this was going.

When I asked her why it bothered her so much that I believed she said that it didn’t offend her so much as that she had a hard time believing that such a smart person could believe in something that can’t be proven true. She didn’t want words-she needed hard evidence. She’s a “science” person, which I guess goes with the territory.

I understand how difficult and dissatisfying it can be to believe in something you cannot see or touch, but I have felt what is without a doubt God’s presence in a way I cannot explain to someone who is not already inclined to believe in such things. Some people are more spiritually-minded than others, and that’s fine. It’s just like how some people like art while others don’t. Like how my sister is into sci-fi but I’m not a fan. Like how some people like math while others would rather drink a bottle of Pine-Sol than sit through a calculus class.

It’s not that bad, by the way. The original and lavender flavors are pretty odd, but the lemon’s okay.

I know I can’t explain my beliefs and feelings away by science, but there are a lot of things-love, friendship, compassion-that are not quantifiable and are yet some of the most important things on which we base our lives. If someone truly cannot see this-or at least, see the value of it-well, I feel sorry for them. I’ve gotten a lot of solace from the idea that there’s something else “out there”, even if I didn’t know what it was. For me, coming to know Jesus was finally putting a name to something I knew was there all along.

I guess I’m more of a “heart-led” person than a “head-lead” one. That doesn’t mean I don’t think things through so much as I understand that there are some things I just won’t know in this life, and that’s okay. The fun isn’t in knowing the answers so much as asking the questions to begin with. As long as I’m able to do that, I’ll be fine.